Base trimmer for bowling pins



April 9, 1963 H. A. ORCIANI 3,084,486

BASE TRIMMER FOR BOWLING PINS Filed July 19, 1961 I 1 22 Y 26 Q4 32 4'4g 3 60 INVENTOR HENRY A.ORC|AN| ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,084,486BASE TRIMMER FOR BOWLING PINS Henry A. Orciani, 171 West Boylston St.,West Boylston, Mass. Filed July 19, 1961, Ser. No. 125,132 1 Claim. (Cl.l-125) This invention relates to a new and improved device foraccurately squaring the bases of bowling pins, and the principal objectof the invention resides in the provision of a device of this naturewhich can be operated very quickly and easily While still providing foraccurate trimming off of the base so that any worn pin which may have aslanted bottom is trimmed off to a square or fiat bottom so that it willstand exactly upright in the alley.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a portabledevice of the class described which comprises a base on which is mountedan electric motor having a sanding wheel driven thereby, said motorbeing capable of being adjusted slightly on a vertical axis, i.e., atright angles to the base or platform, in combination with a trackway onthe base, said trackway guiding a moving carriage in a directionparallel to the axis of the motor and including a new and improvedaperture base for holding the bowling pin near the base which is to beoperated upon and a special new and improved clamp for the head of thepin, said clamp being adjustable vertically to provide for slightadjustments to achieve an exact parallelism of the axis of the pin withthe trackway and the motor shaft, and said motor itself being adjustablein order to compensate for any possible irregularity in the shaft or thegrinding disc itself whereby the carriage, table, etc. with pin mountedthereon may be quickly and easily operated to clamp the pin correctlyand move it a short distance toward the pin for lightly sanding the sameto square 011?.

Another object of the invention includes the provision of a new andimproved adjustable stop means to contact the carriage so that with thepin correctly placed as stated on the carriage, if the carriage shouldhit the stop pin without the requisite trimming action being possible tobe made on the base of the pin, the pin is thereby shown to be worn outand no longer fit for use and must be disposed of.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 isa view in side elevation illustrating the invention, parts being brokenaway;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1,parts being in section;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the carriage andillustrating the head-clamping means, and

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation showing the clamping means for the base ofthe pin.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a portable table,platform, or the like upon which all of the mechanism is mounted.Adjacent one end of this platform there is provided a motor M, thismotor being mounted on a pair of end plates rising upright from theplatform and being indicated at 12 and 14. These end plates areconnected in any desired way to a base plate 16 and the motor shaftwhich is indicated at 18 extends through the plates 12 and 14, therebeing a conventional sanding head 20 mounted on the shaft 18 at one endthereof as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The motor supporting frame which comprises the pieces 12, 14 and 16 isalso provided with outwardly extending projections at 22 and 24. Theprojection at 24 is provided with a nut, pin, or other means 26 whichsecures 3,084,486 Patented Apr. 9, 1963 ice it to the platform 10 insuch a way that the motor is enabled to be slightly angularly adjustedabout the axis of the member 26. The extension 22 is provided with anarc-shaped slot 30 and a fastening screw 28 extending through the slotinto the platform .10 to provide for the pivotal adjustment referred toand to clamp the motor in the desired adjustment.

Adjacent sanding disc 20 there is a bracket which is generally indicatedat 32 and mounted on it is madjusting pin 34 which may be provided withlocking screws and the like as desired. This comprises an adjustablestop to limit the approach of the carriage 36 to be described relativeto the sanding disc on the head 20.

The carriage 36 comprises a rectangular plate guided by a pair ofupright longitudinal guideway members 38, 38 formotion in the directionof the arrow shown in FIG. 2 on platform 10 to and from sanding disc 20parallel to the axis of the motor, i.e., at a angle to the plane of thesanding disc.

Mounted at the forward end of carriage 36 there is a square orrectangular plate 40 of relatively heavy stock and this plate generallycentrally thereof is provided with a beveled hole as shown at 42 whichreceives the butt end 44 of the bowling pin and correctly positions thesame with a protruding end 46 as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 forapproach towards the grinding wheel. The beveled aperture 42 in theplate 40 is carefully made and allows a correct projection of the pin sothat if the stop 34 is struck by the carriage 36 so that the extreme endat 46 of the bowling pin does not touch the sanding wheel 20 or iftouching, is not operated upon to an extent to recondition the pin, thenthe pin is clearly shown to be too old and worn to be of any use. Ahandle 48 is preferably provided on plate 40 to move the same and thecarriage in the tracks.

At the other end of the carriage 36 there is provided a verticallyadjustable post 50 having lock nuts, etc. to maintain the same inposition, and having mounted thereon a collar or the like 52 which canswing on a vertical axis in a horizontal plane and is adjustable withthe vertical adjustment of the post 50, so as to position an elongatedrod 54 adjustably vertically. I

The rod 54 is provided with a handle 56 which extends into an opening 58in a supporting post 60 so as to provide for the application of a ring62 to the head end 64 of a bowling pin. Ring 62 is provided with abeveled circular portion at 66 for the reception of the rounded head 64of the pin to accurately locate and hold the same.

In the operation of the device it is merely necessary for the operatorto insert the butt or base end of the pin in the opening 42 in the plate40 and swing rod 54 in a clockwise direction in FIG. 2 so as to clampthe head '64 of the pin in the ring 62. The bevels at 42 and 66correctly position the pin with the butt end 46 of the pin extendingtherefrom sutliciently so that when the handles 48 and 56 are grasped,then the entire carriage with pin attached is moved toward the sandingdisc, the latter having been adequately accurately positioned by meansof the pins 26 and 28. This will lightly square off the base of the pinand make it fiat and at a very accurate right angle with respect to theaxis of the pin, but as stated if the stop 34 which has been previouslyaccurately adjusted prevents the carriage from bringing the butt end ofthe pin forwardly far enough to be operated upon by the sanding disc,then the pin is shown to be old and can be discarded.

The pin can be reconditioned in a very few seconds by this machine andsince it is portable it can be carried to all parts of the bowling alleyin order to minimize transportation of the pins, and it will thereforebe seen that a very accurate'and easily operated, foolproof device isprovided which is portable and can be carried from spot to spot for itsintended operation.

, Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof', I' donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise thanas set forth in the claim, but what I" claim is:

A base trimmer for bowling pins comprising an elongatedflat portableplatform, a motor mounted thereon, the motor having a shaft generallyparallel to the platform, means for adjusting said motor on an axisperpendicular tothe platform, a pin base trimming tool mountedtransversely of. and driven by the shaft of the motor, the adjustment ofthe motor affording an exact squaring oif by the tool of the base of apin on the platform, a pair of spaced parallel tracks on the platformforming a guideway on said platform generally parallel to the length ofthe, platform and to the axis of the motor shaft, a flat, horizontal,elongated, rectangular movable carriage in said'guideway in generalalignment with the motor shaft, a fixed transverse plate adjacent theend of the carriage closer to the tool, means on said plate receivingthe base of a bowling pin with a portion of the base thereof extendingin the direction of the tool, a vertical post on the carriage adjacentone side edge thereof and in spaced relation to said plate, ahorizontally swingable member on said post extending across the carriageto and past its opposite edge, a bowling pin head engaging ring means onsaid swingable member, the ring means being intermediate the ends of theswingable member, said swingable member serving to position and hold thebowling pin relative to said plate whereby the pin is accurately held onthe carriage between the plate on the carriage and the swingable memberand said pin may be moved to be engaged by said tool at the base of thepin, squaring the base of the pin, a stop adjacent the tool in positionto engage and stop the travel of the carriage in predetermined postiionspaced from the tool, and means to vertically adjust the swingablemember.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

